Inside the laboratory of the archmage Aep Dearhenna.
"My lady, although you told me to shut up, and I also think I should remain quiet, after giving it some thought, I still want to say, bang! Crash!"
The sound of something heavy hitting the floor rang out.
Cynthia abruptly raised her head, just in time to see Adalbert collapse limply to the ground, sweeping a large number of objects off the table with him.
The sorceress immediately cast a protective shield and fixed her gaze on the man who had knocked the mage unconscious. His brown-and-yellow Kaedweni clothing was stained with blood.
Then she noticed the parted blond hair, the mutated pupils so different from ordinary witcher eyes, and the four blade scars across his face...
A great deal of information about the man flashed through Cynthia's mind.
She leveled her staff at him, dangerous blue light gathering at its tip.
"Mr. Victor Corion, may I ask what you're doing here?"
Victor blinked.
"I'm just a passing witcher. I happened to discover some ruins and came inside to have a look. Then I heard your voice and thought I'd have a little chat with you.
"But considering how many corpses were lying in the previous room, I decided it would be safer to ask Mr. Adalbert here to take a nap first.
"Don't worry, he'll be fine. He didn't even realize he'd been attacked before losing consciousness, and when he wakes up he'll have some mild memory loss. It should be very easy to explain away."
The sorceress did not know whether to laugh or cry.
She recalled the intelligence report on Victor Corion, Ciri's younger brother, an unconfirmed prophet.
Judging from his known actions, he valued personal bonds and promises, possessed excellent professional standards as a witcher, and appeared to be a rationalist and humanitarian, though the latter remained unverified. He was considered potentially recruitable and exploitable.
After thinking it through, the face beneath Cynthia's hood gradually returned to calm.
Her staff lowered from pointing directly at him to resting against the floor.
"I didn't expect you to have already considered everything for me, witcher. Frankly, I wouldn't have cared if you'd killed him. I don't like the man. Since you've invited me to talk so courteously, I have no reason to refuse. What did you want to discuss?"
Victor had deliberately shown goodwill by not immediately disposing of Adalbert.
Even so, Cynthia's ability to calmly accept the situation and communicate with him so quickly gave Victor a faint sense of unreality.
So he decided to begin with a simple question.
"Can you tell me where we are? And whether those Redanians died for something worthwhile?"
The corner of the sorceress's mouth curled upward.
"Are you joking? They didn't even know what they were searching for!
"This is Aep Dearhenna's laboratory. He was an extraordinarily accomplished mage. If the surviving records are correct, the legacy he left behind is valuable enough to make kings start wars over it.
"Hey! Don't look at me like that. The Redanians attacked first."
"The survivors get the final say."
Cynthia struck the floor twice with her staff.
"Oh, spare me! My time is valuable, and I imagine yours is too. Shall we skip the pointless nonsense?"
Compared with Cynthia, Victor truly did not care much about the laboratory.
He cared even less about the Redanians who had died there.
After coughing twice, he probed meaningfully,
"Philippa Eilhart?"
"It wasn't easy luring her onto that garden path," Cynthia answered without hesitation.
"Impressive nerve. What about Saskia the Dragonslayer?"
The sorceress shook her head.
"Philippa sent her to work with that old woman Síle the day before. I don't know where they are. That old woman loves secrecy, and she didn't leak the slightest hint about where they were staying."
Victor was not disappointed at receiving no useful lead.
He had already expected that Cynthia probably knew nothing.
If Nilfgaard had known where Síle was, its agents would have been more than happy to capture her.
Cynthia's straightforward answer also demonstrated a degree of sincerity.
Connecting everything he already knew in his mind, Victor suddenly asked,
"Triss Merigold?"
Cynthia's body trembled.
A complicated expression appeared on her face before her red lips parted.
"So you noticed after all. You're even sharper than the reports suggested.
"Yes. An injured Triss came to Vergen seeking help. Philippa was in a meeting at the time, and nobody else noticed her arrival. I knocked her unconscious and used Artifact Compression to turn her into a figurine."
The answer matched the information Victor had overheard beside the Pontar.
He calmly continued,
"When I went looking for Philippa, I startled you so badly that you knocked something onto the floor. You were worried I'd find something that could be used to track Triss, so you had no choice but to send the figurine away."
"As expected of you. You even know about that. Impressive." Cynthia clapped lightly.
"Sounds like you know quite a lot about me?"
"Within Nilfgaardian intelligence, you're considered an important person of interest."
"Can I ask why? After all, I'm just an ordinary, unremarkable witcher."
"Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon."
Understanding dawned on Victor immediately.
That name explained everything.
It was perfectly natural for the Nilfgaardian Emperor, Emhyr var Emreis, to keep watch on people connected to his own daughter.
Hearing her full name spoken aloud also made Victor keenly aware that the era he knew best was rapidly approaching.
Just as the Burning Omen had foretold, Ciri would soon return.
Once he found her and thoroughly crushed the Wild Hunt, all he needed afterward was to accompany the newly liberated girl through a few more journeys across time and space.
Even if he still couldn't return to the alchemical world, he should eventually be able to use Miraculous Alchemy to create something like a one-use space-time portal.
Realizing he had briefly drifted into thought, Victor noticed that Cynthia had made no attempt to attack him.
So he continued questioning her.
"Then how do Nilfgaardian reports describe me? And what attitude does the Empire take toward me? If it isn't classified, I'd really like to know."
Cynthia giggled and raised one index finger to her lips.
"No. Classified!"
"Fine!"
If she did not want to tell him, there was no reason to force the issue.
"Then let's talk about Aep Dearhenna's laboratory. Is there anything here I can get a share of?"
"Rewards require contribution. You can't contribute absolutely nothing and then demand a share of the profits. That's robbery!"
"No. That's kingship."
Cynthia burst into laughter.
She released her staff, picked up the documents again, then raised her chin to indicate that Victor could do as he pleased.
"There are too many objects nearby interfering with magic, so my search is inefficient. There's a hidden mechanism somewhere in this room. Find it for me, and I'll share what we discover."
Victor considered her request effortless.
From the moment he had entered the room, his wariness of spellcasters had kept him continuously sensing the movement of magic throughout the chamber.
As a result, he had already known the answer for some time.
If the woman wasn't afraid, then naturally the man had nothing to be afraid of either.
Victor walked over until he stood beside her, close enough to catch the sorceress's fragrance.
He drew out the Eye of Nehaleni and waved it across the bookcase.
The illusion was wiped away, revealing a strange hidden device.
It consisted of three brass supports and at first glance somewhat resembled a megascope, yet both its materials and construction contained numerous subtle differences.
Cynthia shifted her gaze from the device to Victor, her expression complicated.
She tossed aside the papers in her hand.
"The Eye of Nehaleni. I never expected you to possess an artifact capable of dispelling illusions. No wonder you found the entrance to the laboratory."
The sorceress walked up to the apparatus.
"Finally... the prototype megascope. Give me a few minutes. I need to confirm its present condition."
With that, she turned her back to the witcher and focused entirely on her work.
The protective shield she had cast earlier had already dissipated.
If Victor wanted to stab her in the back, now would have been the perfect opportunity.
Instead, he merely stood behind her, using his blue Rinnegan to appreciate the beautiful curve of her waist and hips.
He did nothing else.
Sometimes, looking was enough.
...
After a while.
Having finished adjusting the device, the sorceress turned around and folded her arms.
"Yes! This is the prototype megascope, an artifact designed to detect emotional connections between people. The user simply focuses their attention on the person they wish to observe. The device then establishes a connection and allows you to see what that person sees."
"Sounds like the perfect tool for a spy?"
"Exactly. Unfortunately, it's in terrible condition. I estimate it can only be used three more times before it breaks. Based on your contribution, I'll give you one use."
Victor did not question Cynthia's explanation.
With his sensitivity to magical currents, he could already tell that the apparatus's energy-storage system had failed.
Whatever else one could say about it, the prototype megascope was an absurd piece of magical technology.
Ignoring the enormous energy requirements and its susceptibility to interference, being able to spy on a target for fifteen seconds at any time and without their consent made it practically a medieval super-satellite.
And for an artifact that powerful,
"One use isn't bad. That's fair enough. So how do I use it?" the witcher asked.
The sorceress snapped her fingers.
"Choose someone you want to contact. Concentrate on their appearance and think about them. Then the prototype megascope will let you see through their eyes."
The method was extremely simple.
Victor eagerly prepared to try it.
Unfortunately, good things rarely came without complications...
"S-Stop! You can't! Under Nilfgaardian law, that device belongs to the Empire!"
The male mage Adalbert, whom Victor had knocked unconscious, had somehow staggered back onto his feet.
He raised his staff and pointed it at Victor.
The situation abruptly changed.
Victor kept one eye on the male mage while simultaneously guarding against the sorceress.
Their earlier one-on-one conversation had been quite pleasant, but now the situation had returned to two against one.
He needed to choose his words carefully.
"Calm down, Mr. Adalbert. Please remember that I could have hurt you earlier, but I didn't.
"In fact, the only reason you're capable of standing now is because I deliberately avoided causing permanent injury and held back when I struck you.
"Can't you be a little more reasonable?"
"Victor Corion, I know who you are! You think making some nonsensical prophecy, one that didn't even fucking rhyme, makes you special?
"Then you claim some intimate relationship with Princess Cirilla and suddenly imagine yourself to be somebody important? Let me tell you, in my eyes you're nothing!"
Victor frowned.
Before he could respond, Cynthia shouted sharply,
"Shut up, Adalbert. This is your commander's decision. Obey orders, or your insubordination will be included in my report."
"Will your report also mention that you disclosed state secrets to a Northerner?" the male mage retorted.
"Adalbert, perhaps one day you'll become a commander yourself. Until then, be a good boy and do your job."
"Article Twenty-Two is perfectly clear, 'Reasonable suspicion of treason is sufficient cause to relieve a commander of authority.' And Article One of my personal code is equally clear, 'Traitors must suffer the most painful possible death.'"
With that, Adalbert raised his staff to cast a spell.
But a bolt of white light struck first and completely bound him in place.
Cynthia had attacked him.
"Kill him!" she said.
Seeing Victor's puzzled expression, the corner of her mouth curled into a teasing smile.
"Didn't understand me? Need me to translate it into Elder Speech? Marwse!"
Hell hath no fury indeed.
Victor shrugged.
"As you wish, my lady."
He stepped forward several paces, ignoring the magnificent display of fury and unwillingness twisting Mr. Adalbert's face.
Blazing Strike, right through the heart!
Victor flicked the blood from his blade and returned the sword to its sheath.
"I didn't expect you to help me."
"You're not particularly handsome, but I rather like you. And he was planning to climb over my corpse to get promoted." The sorceress extended her tongue and licked her lips.
"A Nilfgaardian mage dying on top of his own report isn't going to cause trouble for you?"
She spread her hands.
"Of course not. The Redanians killed him, didn't they? Unless you're planning to betray me?"
The witcher shook his head.
"Then have you decided how you want to use your opportunity?"
"Yes, my lady. And I'd appreciate it if you weren't watching while I do."
"I'll wait outside."
Without hesitation, Cynthia lightly walked out of the room.
Victor's gaze passed over the corpse on the floor.
Although he estimated that invoking Adalbert's spirit could yield considerable information, the surrounding environment was too dangerous.
He abandoned the idea.
Walking up to the apparatus, Victor followed Cynthia's instructions.
He pictured Saskia in his mind and activated the prototype megascope.
...
Boom!
His vision abruptly shifted into an unfamiliar first-person perspective.
Dark clouds filled the gloomy sky.
Far below lay the city of Loc Muinne, the campfires of four nations scattered across it like stars.
Wait!?
Was Saskia flying?
Victor was confused for only an instant before quickly realizing that he was looking down from the air.
He recognized the perspective so quickly because he had once experienced the exact same viewpoint in Vergen through Dragon's Dream.
The viewpoint glided through the air and gradually descended.
Just as it was about to reach the ground, the image suddenly went black.
His viewing time was over.
...
Buzz!
Victor was thrown out of Saskia's perspective.
The great detective Sherlock Holmes had once said that when every impossible explanation has been eliminated, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
Dragon's Dream, Blazing Strike, and now the prototype megascope.
Together, they proved that Saskia the Dragonslayer was the golden dragon soaring through the sky.
In truth, she ought to be called Saskia the Dragon Maiden.
She had once said that she was Aryan's friend.
That meant the dragon's attack on La Valette Castle had been an attempt to help him, which was also why she had fought Victor.
It explained why she had instantly recognized him inside the spectral mist.
And it also explained why such a powerful poison as magepain, Thaumador, had only managed to weaken her for several days.
It was all because she was a dragon.
For the ideal reasoning mind, once one aspect of a fact had been established, it should be possible not only to infer the other circumstances that produced that fact, but also every consequence that would follow from it.
Unfortunately, Victor was hardly an ideal reasoning mind.
So this discovery alone would probably be enough to trouble him for quite some time.
Several minutes passed.
The door opened and the sorceress walked back over to the witcher.
"Well? Did you learn what you wanted to know?"
"Yes. I really do have to thank you. It helped enormously."
Cynthia gave him a sweet smile.
"Then why are you still hanging around? Hoping I'll give you a kiss?"
Victor laughed.
"Will we meet again?"
"Who knows? During the summit, I'm staying at the Eternal Fire Inn."
With that, the sorceress waved him away.
Victor whistled and raised a hand in farewell.
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